We are moving along….

We just returned from a trip to Texas where we attended the East Texas Baptist Campmeeting. Although it was a long trip, it proved to be restful as there were not a lot of day time activities. We had just finished a 3 week stint of working on the boat for 8-10 hours per day, 6 days a week, and the rest was really needed. We had two great presentations, one in Mississippi and the other in Louisiana….hopefully both churches will take us on for support….and if they do, we are that much closer to the finish line…our deputation goal is in sight….as is the completion of work on Mercy’s Vessel. We have not completed either of those tasks, but we are oh so close….

During this last work period on Mercy’s Vessel, Bobby Paseur and Jim Hogan from Unity Baptist in Ripley, Mississippi came for a week to help Frank and Paul Pecou finish putting in the new internal supports needed for the upper deck. They helped with some other items. Mary and I returned toward the end of June and we finished cleaning the interior decks to bare metal and repainting them. There are many words you can use to describe this process, but fun is not one of them. It is painfully slow work that is hot, dirty, noisy… and really hard on the old body.

Bobby Paseur and Jim Hogan standing near a nearly added structural supportMary stripping the deck on July 4th…with Paul Pecou doing the same with a different machine…oh the noise

Donny Jennings stripping paint from the interior deckAfter we strip the deck to bare metal, Mary paints it with a rust preventer, and later we put on an epoxy primer…

In early July, Frank Olafson and Mike Wosnak brought the plywood for our interior walls. They and Paul Pecou then did the rough in electrical and plumbing work for the main cabin. Finally we started putting the plywood up…..

Autumn Majewski putting up insulation in the main cabinFrank Olafson and Mike Wosnak putting up the first pieces of interior plywood…Praise the Lord

Folks, we are continuing to make great progress on Mercy’s Vessel….our goal is to complete work in October and have her in Gulfport, Mississippi by Thanksgiving….please pray for us. We need wisdom to make the right decisions, strength for the labor, and safety while we work.